


Righteous Conviction

by vandal_aria



Series: Peaks & Shadows [3]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 02:44:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12547040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vandal_aria/pseuds/vandal_aria
Summary: Velanna reunites with Anders and has something to say about the Kirkwall Rebellion.





	Righteous Conviction

**Author's Note:**

> This goes with chapter 7 of Peaks & Shadows and really won’t make much sense without reading that first. I started writing it while trying to sort out how Velanna would feel about seeing Anders again. I was also thinking about how Grey Wardens come from all different backgrounds and would have widely different reactions to the rebellion even within such a small group. Her convictions and the fact that the writers were considering using her as a host for Justice led me here.

“ _What--_ ” A thousand questions jammed in Velanna’s throat and the words died before she could allow any of them through. Velanna felt like she was looking at a ghost. Of course, while they had all hoped that Anders survived Kirkwall and the aftermath, there had never been any proof one way or another until now. Nathaniel’s face was grim and tired; she knew he hadn’t been sleeping much since arriving at Skyhold, and perhaps this was the reason. He didn’t offer an explanation and she didn’t ask, at least not yet.

Velanna breathed deeply, once in and once out, allowing herself that tiny moment of stillness to prepare for the storm she sensed was building up around them. Anders muffled crackling coughs in his sleeve.

“Hello!” the young man waiting patiently at Nathaniel’s side suddenly said, breaking the silence. His presence had an off-putting aura of something that didn’t quite fit in the natural world, though Velanna was too distracted to pay him much attention beyond coming to a swift conclusion she didn’t want him in room with them.

“There,” she said, indicating Sigrun’s unused bed to Nathaniel. The rest was directed at the...boy-shaped...thing. “And you, whatever you are, get out.”

The cold followed them inside like a unwanted guest, making Velanna shiver despite the warm garments she had brought along for sleeping. She closed the door quickly to trap what little built up heat remained. Thoughts were slipping through her mind like a sieve almost as soon as she tried to grasp them, and she stilled her anxiously trembling fingers by putting them to work filling her tea kettle and digging out the stores of herbs from her pack.

Velanna and Anders had never great friends, but they had eventually grown to respect each other during their time at Vigil’s Keep. She was shaken, unable to reconcile her memory of his clinging youth and unexpected resilience with the slow starvation and exposure she could clearly diagnose now.

Nathaniel was hovering uselessly, as he tended to do in minor crises, so she forced a menial task on him in order to give herself and Anders a bit of space. Velanna stood by the bed, for a moment clenching and unclenching her shaking hands uncertainly; she had never felt care and comfort came naturally to her, even less so as she aged and the taint in her blood drew her ever further away from her roots. Still, she could try.

Sitting down, Velanna warmed her palm with magic put it on Anders’ forehead, pushing back the tangled hair hanging over his face. “Why do I always get stuck doing your job?” she grumbled, but there was no heat behind it. “You’re lucky I have the only supply of embrium in this whole blighted keep. That will help with the cough. If you actually remember to take it regularly.”

“Healers make the worst patients,” Anders mumbled. His eyes had closed, but the hint of a smile passed across his face.

“Yes, well…” Velanna felt a prickle in the corners of her eyes, unexpected and unwanted. She let her hand fall to rest heavily on his knee and turned her gaze to the opposite wall. “I was hoping, someday, that I would get to say...” Desperate to speak her mind but unsure of the effect it would have, Velanna hesitated. 

But she needed to say it, with all the righteous conviction she felt years ago dancing in her room hundreds of miles from Kirkwall. “I’m proud of you.”

__

_**9:37 Dragon** _

The keep was quiet when Velanna left her room. She had slept in after a returning from a hard and fast trek through the Brecilian Forest and across the hills, and she guessed everyone had already gone out on daily tasks. That meant she would likely get the baths all to herself after a late breakfast, which was a thrilling prospect indeed.

A smothering silence engulfed her as she moved down the hall, and Velanna stopped before turning a corner, uneasily shifting her weight from foot to foot. As always, there was a small dagger tucked in her belt, but she didn’t feel in danger.

Even so, she nearly jumped out of her skin when Nathaniel rounded the corner. He looked utterly shellshocked and his reaction to her presence seemed delayed.

Velanna willed her startled pulse to calm. “What happened? You look like someone died,” she asked, rather more sharply than she intended. She belatedly tried to soften the harshness of her tone by placing a hand on his arm, though it felt awkward.

“Anders…” Nathaniel started. She could see his throat work and it filled her stomach with dread. “He destroyed the Chantry in Kirkwall.”

Velanna blinked, attempting to process what she was hearing. Her handed slipped off his arm and dropped limply to her side. “Were there people inside?”

“Yes. Or at least, that’s the rumor. No confirmed count yet.” Nathaniel leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. He looked exhausted.

“What...happened to Anders?”

“I’m not sure. Kirkwall is in chaos.” Nathaniel sighed and massaged his forehead with his fingers; he didn’t seem to want to talk, so she didn’t try to push. Velanna replaced her hand on his arm, tentatively, knowing whatever she managed to say would be the wrong thing. He moved his hand away from his face and focused intently on a spot over her shoulder. “I think I want to be alone right now.”

“Of course,” she agreed. Nathaniel squeezed her hand gently before he pulled away, heading for the staircase that lead up to the battlements.

Velanna went back to her room and closed the door, pulse thundering in her ears. She leaned against the back of the door feeling the wellspring of euphoria bubbling up in her throat and through her stinging eyes until she started cheering--silently, privately, pumping her fists in the air and dancing across the cold floor with her lips bitten shut. She didn’t trust her voice not to shriek and laugh loudly and gleefully.


End file.
